How to support breast cancer awareness with your wedding

Charitable & affordable wedding ideas

Brides Against Breast Cancer is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for breast cancer. If you're a bride on a budget, this would be a great way to save money on pricey wedding gowns and give all that money to a good cause.

The wedding gowns sold at Brides Against Breast Cancer directly fund services to cancer patients and loved ones at no charge. BABC reaches out to other local cancer support organizations to share revenues and spread the word. Bridal shops, designers and women donate new and gently worn gowns to help support the cause.

This program sells new and used wedding gowns from prices ranging from $75 to $3,500 and up. Seventy-one cents from every dollar raised is donated to various programs and charities dedicated to fighting cancer. Gowns are available in sizes ranging from 0 to 28 and accessories include tiaras and short veils. In addition, there are also gowns available for bridesmaids and the mother of the bride. This organization offers a thoughtful and affordable way to plan your special day.

Brides Against Breast Cancer is currently in need of contemporary gowns, slips and veils. When gowns arrive, they are prepared for their upcoming “Brides Against Breast Cancer TM, Nationwide Tour of Gowns” sales. Due to the extensive collection of vintage and antique bridal gowns, the organization asks that donators wait until there is room to accommodate more dresses.

The Center for Building Hope is a nonprofit organization that assists survivors and loved ones by providing educational and psychological services free of charge. Programs include: programs for children, individual counseling, workshops, exercise programs, couples and cancer discussion groups and more. Center for Building Hope believes that psychosocial care is vital to a patient's recovery. Common outcomes after joining this organization for patients include: Increased quality of life, decreased psychological stress and a positive attitude toward illness and treatment.

June 7 – 8, 2013 – Des Moines, Iowa
June 8 – 9, 2013 – Providence/Warwick, Rhode Island
June 15 – 16, 2013 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 15 – 16, 2013 – Green Bay, Wisconsin
June 22 – 23, 2013 – Chicago, Illinois Area?— Pretty in Pink
June 22 – 23, 2013 – Wichita, Kansas
June 28 – 29, 2013 – Miami, Florida
June 28 – 29, 2013 – Nashville, Tennessee
July 5th – 6, 2013 – Louisville, Kentucky area
July 12 – 13, 2013 – Virginia Beach, Virginia
July 13 – 14, 2013 – Sarasota, Florida
July 13 – 14, 2013 – Lake Las Vegas, Nevada area
July 13 – 14, 2013 – Central Pennsylvania – Hershey, Pennsylvania area
July 19 – 20, 2013 – Tallahassee, Florida
July 19 – 20, 2013 – Dayton, Ohio
July 26 – 27, 2013 – Sacramento area – McClellan, California
July 27 – 28, 2013 – San Francisco area – Emeryville, California
July 27 – 28, 2013 – Jacksonville, Florida
Aug. 17 – 18, 2013 – Portland, Oregon
Aug. 17 – 18, 2013 – Los Angeles Area?— Whittier, California
Aug. 23 – 24, 2013 – Tampa, Florida
Sept. 6 – 7, 2013 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sept. 6 – 7, 2013 – Cincinnati, Ohio
Sept. 13 – 14, 2013 – Washington, D.C.
Sept. 28 – 29, 2013 – Denver, Colorado
Oct. 12, 2013 – Meridian, Mississippi
Oct. 12 – 13, 2013 – Atlanta, Georgia
Oct. 12 – 13, 2013 – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct. 18 – 19, 2013 – Shelby, North Carolina
Oct. 26 – 27, 2013 – Baltimore, Maryland

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At a family support meeting, I spot a man I find attractive

Sometimes it's hard to know where addiction ends and the person begins: despite not going to meetings, R?is?still sober. Something in his behaviour, however, suggests that he is struggling. He flits from being manically euphoric one minute, to listless and fidgety the next.

This evening, he seems irritated by?everything: especially the presence?of us, his family. I watch him clear the?table before I go to my weekly meeting for families affected by?addiction.

"Is there anything for me to eat?" he says. "I'm starving."

"Well, there's stuff in the fridge." I?know that when I return later, R will have eaten nothing.

In the past, I would have stayed at home and perhaps missed my meeting, in an attempt to get to the root of R's unhappiness. I would have goaded him for answers; I would have consoled and?advised him.

Not tonight. I need to go along to the group because I find it incredibly helpful and supportive, and I don't want to be late.

I have suggested on many occasions during the past week that R should talk about things with others when his?mood darkens, but my advice has been met with: "I'm fine. I can deal with this."

As I shout my goodbyes to the children upstairs, I stop myself saying: "Be good for daddy. Don't make too much noise." I am slowly learning not to pussyfoot around R, and I have to lead by example. They are children, and sometimes they play loudly and as a father, he will have to deal with it.

As soon as I step out of the door and into my car, I feel an immediate sense of relief. Even the heavy traffic doesn't dampen my good mood. I play Prince and sing along loudly.

The meeting is busy, with a few newcomers. I catch sight of an unfamiliar man sitting opposite me. He is tall, handsome and resembles a younger, smarter Jeff Bridges. I notice he's wearing a suit that is the wrong side of shiny, but I find his attractiveness distracting. He exudes kindness even before he introduces himself to the group as we go around the circle.

His wife is an alcoholic. He explains how her drinking has become so out of control that she has – on more than one occasion – forgotten to pick their son up from school. He seems genuinely terrified of what the future might hold, because although she has not touched alcohol for more than a week, the chances are quite high that she will?do?again.

Every one of us in the room could focus on the major differences in the situation he is describing (we are not all husbands or wives of alcoholics – some of the group are parents, or children) but it is the similarities in the patterns of behaviour between ourselves and the addict that many of us are, unfortunately, all too familiar with.

As he speaks, my mind begins to wander. I am an impolite daydreamer, because often when I'm thinking about someone who is present in the room I?unintentionally stare at them.

I start to think all sorts of inappropriate things about "Jeff". What would he look like naked, on the loo, or tucked up in bed next to his wife? Then I imagine us lying side by side, his hand wandering over to stroke my thigh. I see us kissing, his warm breath against my cheek, and I even fantasise about the smell of his skin.

Then my mind strays yet more, and I become annoyed that we will have to move to a bigger house if we become a couple, because we'll have a small army of children between us.

With an abruptness that coincides with a latecomer opening the door, I bring an end to this ridiculous train of thought. I am aware that I have been looking directly at Jeff?for a long time, and he has stopped?talking.

The sound of my own voice startles?me.

"Will you leave her if she drinks?again?"

"I don't know. I've said I will, but I've said that before when she's stopped. When she starts again, I think that maybe I'll give her just one more chance to get better."

On the drive home, I wonder what I will do if R picks up a drink again. There is something in his present mood that makes it seem very likely.

"Good?" R asks when I'm home.

"Good," I mirror laconically as I turn to leave the room. Like a child, I think, "Jeff would never be as miserable as you're being."

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